One productivity tip that always seems to stay at the top of ‘get things done’-lists is “Anticipate the future”. We have to know what’s coming to prepare for it. I’ve known about my trip to Japan for nearly a year and only started preparing my blog a month before our flight. A month is enough, but the sooner you start, the easier it is. I’m not good at creating a backlog for my blogs.
I’ve done Blaugust and Blogmas last year which means I’ve done daily posts for two months. While I usually have a thousand ideas, they’re all for books, games, or movies, and not for blog posts. Preparing a month worth of content isn’t easy to do in two days. Maybe if I had taken more time to prepare it would’ve been easier.
Brainstorming
Since I don’t cover all of the topics I want to write about on Narratess, I’m limiting myself. My writing here is different from what I do on my gaming blog. That’s okay, but it makes coming up with topics a little harder.
I don’t do book tags, for example. If I did, I’d have all of my content covered since there are so many out there. I don’t do Waiting on Wednesday since I post on Fridays. The same goes for Top Ten Tuesdays. I don’t join in a lot of book tours, and haven’t done any author interview except for that one time with Isabella May (which you should totally read).
My reviews go up on Tuesday and I try to do two a month, but I’m sure I’m going to make it. I’ve barely read any fiction since I started editing. I’m not sure what I’m going to yet, but I hope I can do more reading on my trip and work on a backlog of reviews for next year.
Graphics
I use Canva for all my headers. It’s super easy and free. I don’t have to worry about copyright since all of the images are either free to use, or paid per design. You know what you’re getting.
I created all the images I needed at once. Seven headers that consisted of a stockphoto with the title of the blog on it. I like my designs simple and clear, so no barely readable script fonts, or decorations that obscure the title or the photo. Canva has one filter I love, and I use it on all of my headers to give it a more unified appearance. The only thing I still miss is a nice template for my reviews. That’s something for next year.
Writing the posts
The actual writing of the blog posts usually isn’t the problem. Once I have a topic I can write them pretty quickly, if my concentration span works. I still have problems with concentration ever since my head injury, although focusing is becoming easier. I’ll switch between posts to keep my mind interested. Do some prep work for one, then write a few paragraphs for the other.
I’ll let them rest for a day or two and finish the post with a header and proper SEO. Then I schedule them for the right date and time. All in all, what takes up the most time is thinking up all the topics, hoping I’ll have enough content to fill up a post.
Do you work in advance? How do you prepare your blog when you know you won’t be able to post for a while?